Founders made more KBS for this year's release.

Beer Trader

I have to agree with some of you on here. Even if Founders triples the production you are not going to see a drop more at your local stores. The number of stores carrying craft have gone through the roof not to mention the number of people drinking it. On top of that you have Founders expanding their footprint to other regions which only causes the supply to become thinner over a greater area. Kind of like BCBS going to a year round offering and I have yet to see one bottle sitting on a shelf in SE Michigan.

Bet that was a letdown. KBS is pretty much worthless after 6-8 months. Had 2012 KBS on Black Friday at a bar, and the coffee was totally gone and there was barely a hint of bourbon. My bottles fared just as poorly.

Rumor is they've tripled production for this year's batch. Should be easier to find I would imagine.

Beer Trader

Bet that was a letdown. KBS is pretty much worthless after 6-8 months. Had 2012 KBS on Black Friday at a bar, and the coffee was totally gone and there was barely a hint of bourbon. My bottles fared just as poorly.

Rumor is they've tripled production for this year's batch. Should be easier to find I would imagine.

Bet that was a letdown. KBS is pretty much worthless after 6-8 months. Had 2012 KBS on Black Friday at a bar, and the coffee was totally gone and there was barely a hint of bourbon. My bottles fared just as poorly.

Rumor is they've tripled production for this year's batch. Should be easier to find I would imagine.

I'm curious as to why. It's already aged for a year+ before bottling/kegging, and most of what makes it distinct disappears with age in the bottle/keg. Founders themselves recommend drinking their beers young.

Bet that was a letdown. KBS is pretty much worthless after 6-8 months. Had 2012 KBS on Black Friday at a bar, and the coffee was totally gone and there was barely a hint of bourbon. My bottles fared just as poorly.

Rumor is they've tripled production for this year's batch. Should be easier to find I would imagine.

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I usually stand up for people's right to have opinions, but saying the coffee in KBS is completely gone after 6-8 months is asinine.

The coffee was completely gone in the KBS I had on Black Friday. The keg was likely 8-9 months old, though it may have been older. The coffee in the last bottle of 2012 KBS that I opened, which was some time in late October also had little to no coffee flavor left. That is not an opinion, it's a fact. By that point, the beer has been aged for over a year and a half. Most beers with coffee flavor lose it completely after that amount of time. At least, every one that I have tried does. What exactly is asinine about that?

The coffee was completely gone in the KBS I had on Black Friday. The keg was likely 8-9 months old, though it may have been older. The coffee in the last bottle of 2012 KBS that I opened, which was some time in late October also had little to no coffee flavor left. That is not an opinion, it's a fact. By that point, the beer has been aged for over a year and a half. Most beers with coffee flavor lose it completely after that amount of time. At least, every one that I have tried does. What exactly is asinine about that?

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Guess we'll just agree to disagree. I can taste coffee in aged KBS, and hell even a two year old Wake n Bake I found in the back of my fridge was still coffee forward. To each their own I suppose, there are still plenty of people that trade for and drink aged KBS and love it even though you call it "worthless" after 6-8 months.

If you're storing it in your refrigerator, I'm guessing that can make a big difference in how long the coffee lasts, but at a cellar temp of 55-60, coffee disappears mighty fast. Bourbon sticks around longer, but the 2012 KBS I have left is now exactly as bld81 describes - smooth malts, with little else. A hint of bourbon is still there, but the coffee is gone, and every KBS that old or older is the same way in my experience. Hell, I had CBS at a bar in June, and it was the same thing - no maple or coffee, a bit of bourbon. Same thing also with the Better Half I had a few weeks ago, come to think of it, at least as far as the maple and bourbon are concerned.

I mean sure, to each his own, but aged KBS is a completely different beer from fresh KBS, basically just an aged version of the base beer. And the base beer is good, but there are several aged stouts that are far superior, in my humble opinion.

I mean sure, to each his own, but aged KBS is a completely different beer from fresh KBS, basically just an aged version of the base beer. And the base beer is good, but there are several aged stouts that are far superior, in my humble opinion.

Guess we'll just agree to disagree. I can taste coffee in aged KBS, and hell even a two year old Wake n Bake I found in the back of my fridge was still coffee forward. To each their own I suppose, there are still plenty of people that trade for and drink aged KBS and love it even though you call it "worthless" after 6-8 months.

Beer Trader

Bet that was a letdown. KBS is pretty much worthless after 6-8 months. Had 2012 KBS on Black Friday at a bar, and the coffee was totally gone and there was barely a hint of bourbon. My bottles fared just as poorly.

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I'll take a stab at rewriting this:

"Was that a letdown for you? I've found that the coffee fades dramatically and the bourbon as well after 6-8 months."

I think most BAs would still disagree but I think you would have received a lot less "attention".

Beer Trader

The coffee was completely gone in the KBS I had on Black Friday. The keg was likely 8-9 months old, though it may have been older. The coffee in the last bottle of 2012 KBS that I opened, which was some time in late October also had little to no coffee flavor left. That is not an opinion, it's a fact. By that point, the beer has been aged for over a year and a half. Most beers with coffee flavor lose it completely after that amount of time. At least, every one that I have tried does. What exactly is asinine about that?

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Saying that you couldn't taste the coffee in the last bottle of KBS you opened is not a fact, as you so emphatically put it. But it's really just what you pervceive to taste, and is merely your opinion. If YOU can't taste it, that doesn't meant that someone else doesn't. You could also have issues with where you cellared your bottle (temp fluctuations etc.). Some people taste soy sauce in BCBS, i don't get any kind of soy sauce taste, i taste bourbon and chocolate, but that's what I taste. No one else can put on my palate and taste the same thing i do. Just as no one can transfer your pallate into their own. That's what is asinine about your comment.

FWIW, everyone who was buying bottles and pours of '09 KBS at HopCat's wood and wild ale festival this past november can echo the sentiment that KBS can get better with age.

Beer Trader

Saying that you couldn't taste the coffee in the last bottle of KBS you opened is not a fact, as you so emphatically put it. But it's really just what you pervceive to taste, and is merely your opinion. If YOU can't taste it, that doesn't meant that someone else doesn't. You could also have issues with where you cellared your bottle (temp fluctuations etc.). Some people taste soy sauce in BCBS, i don't get any kind of soy sauce taste, i taste bourbon and chocolate, but that's what I taste. No one else can put on my palate and taste the same thing i do. Just as no one can transfer your pallate into their own. That's what is asinine about your comment.

FWIW, everyone who was buying bottles and pours of '09 KBS at HopCat's wood and wild ale festival this past november can echo the sentiment that KBS can get better with age.

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Internet pedantry strikes again!

Although "I couldn't taste the coffee in the last bottle of KBS I opened" is, actually, a fact. Whether there is any coffee flavor left is something that you'd probably need a gas chromatograph to properly prove. What you don't need a gas chromatograph to prove is that coffee flavor in beer fades over time at cellar temperatures. As do bourbon and oak flavors, though in my experience they fade more slowly than coffee. KBS that is 3 and a half years old probably has very, very little of either left I would imagine. I guess I'm just having a hard time figuring out why I should want to drink KBS that is missing both the K and the B components.

Also, did you personally ask everyone who was buying bottles and pours of '09 KBS if they thought it was better with age? Is it "better" because it tastes better, or "better" because it's extremely difficult to find '09 KBS and they can brag to their friends and on the Internet about getting some, and there is no other way to get KBS right now than to drink some that has aged for at least 10 months?

Internet pedantry strikes again!...
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Also, did you personally ask everyone who was buying bottles and pours of '09 KBS if they thought it was better with age? Is it "better" because it tastes better, or "better" because it's extremely difficult to find '09 KBS and they can brag to their friends and on the Internet about getting some, and there is no other way to get KBS right now than to drink some that has aged for at least 10 months?

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Why would you ask such a silly question. Of course i asked everyone!
I can't speak for everyone there. I can say the group of 9 people there with me enjoyed it. Secondly, they sold out of the bottles and pours pretty quickly. Why would someone buy pours and bottles if they didn't like the beer. And why would you try a 3 year aged version if you've never had the beer before. I'm not saying it's worlds better. But in my opinion i thought it was better than the '12 i had opened most recently to the event to compare. Your taste is also your taste. Someone can say they taste X component in a certain beer (take devil dancer, some get onions and garlic, some would say that is absurd) it's what you taste. If you feel it's fallen off and can't taste the coffee, so be it, myself and others in this thread are respectfully disagreeing.

The point i was trying to make is. Sure it may fade. BUT. It is by no means completely gone in any bottle or pour I've had (up to 3 years old). And to answer your question, yes i thought it was "better" because it tasted better. I myself can't taste the rare in old bottles so i'm going only off taste.

Beer Trader

I have some '09 KBS and it tastes absolutely wonderful. Not the same as it used to be but amazing in it's own right. I plan on a 5 year vertical this year and I'll definitely be posting how each tastes somewhere in here for funsies. Who cares about the coffee! It's delicious either way!

Subscriber

I almost don't want to get excited over this because I have a feeling it'll be like last year for me where I contacted a half dozen places in the area, found out they're getting only a case or two and having a drawing for 4-packs on a night I can't make it, or the bottle shops will have it for about a dollar an ounce. Not to be overly cynical about it, and I'll admit I enjoy the hunt even though it usually ends up being frivolous, but this has been one of my disappointments since I got into the hobby. Here's to hoping though. I got lucky as hell with my Bolt Cutters so maybe it'll happen again. Yeah, first world problems indeed. Heh.

I was underwhelmed with last year's version. Got one bottle at $9.00. New to the whole founders thing. I thought it was good, enjoyable but not great or worth the hype. Should I have aged it for some time? My go to is BBCS. I thought this years harpoon leviathan czenorbog was fantastic.

Beer Trader

I have to agree with the sentiment that you should not age KBS. About a year ago I had a vertical of '09-'12 KBS. The fresh 2012 was great, and the 2011 was great because the coffee had indeed faded to allow rich chocolate and vanilla notes to push through. The 2009 and 2010 had completely fallen apart. The body was thin, there was zero carb, and it drank more like a BA porter.